Sunday, February 15, 2009

I liked this post on YourCT.com titled "The I-95 Accident Analysis–Norwalk Stretch #1." It's actually more commentary on all the various types of bad drivers you'll find from exits oh, 11-18.The post was based on an article in the CT Post that reported that the Norwalk stretch of I-95 is the most dangerous:Traveling on Interstate 95 in Connecticut means taking your life in your hands on a regular basis, but if you're driving on the highway through Norwalk, your chances of being involved in an accident climb markedly. In 2007, the latest year for which complete statistics are available, 735 accidents occurred on the Norwalk portion of I-95. That number represents 10.3 percent of all I-95 accidents in the state, from New York to Rhode Island, for the year. New Haven had the second-largest number of crashes, 582, in 2007, followed by Stamford (579), Greenwich (576) and Milford (564).

Lt. J. Paul Vance, State Police spokesman, said Norwalk is a hot spot because of a high volume of traffic. "It is a melting pot, for all of the major cities," Vance said. "It is just a busy, congested area. The area has curvatures and inclines; there is no straight shot, which really doesn't help in bad weather..."

Jill Kelly, co-founder of the Connecticut Citizen Transportation lobby, was surprised to hear Norwalk was the top accident location on I-95 and offered her own theory. "When I drive the area where Route 7 merges into I-95 [in Norwalk], I really have to be aware of traffic," said Kelly. "It's very tight there and a little confusing, and maybe just not wide enough, with people merging on from Route 7 and others trying at about the same point to get off exit 14 on the southbound side."

My reaction:1. All the more reason for me to use the Merritt; I live about the same distance from the Merritt and 95.2. I feel somewhat justified now, for almost losing my mind the year I lived off exit 15 in Norwalk. The drive from Greenwich to Norwalk was miserable, even as early as 3:30 in the afternoon. Now, statistics prove that my commute was not only annoying and mind-numbingly boring (45 minutes to go 11 miles?), it was actually pretty dangerous.

One of the many reasons it's worth paying more to live in Stamford.

4 comments:

Of course their are some interesting and valid "local" routes to Norwalk from Stamford that are also extremely good and I am talking about getting on US 1 after the railroad bridge in Darien. If you are in Springdale, it is sometimes better than the Merrit, depending on where you want to go.

I was just commenting to my wife how ironic it is that the same people who stagger around breathing through their mouths and are perpetually in my way in the grocery store, can't wait to get on the roads and start driving like morons, swerving around and cutting people off and generally being unsafe.

About Me

I’m an eight year resident of Stamford, originally from Virginia. I’ve grown to like Stamford, but it wasn’t easy to find the social scene I wanted. It took a concentrated effort to research Stamford nightlife and entertainment options. I went online, started reading local papers, forced myself to go out and explore…and re-embraced my habit of talking to strangers. I learned that Stamford has a vibrant social life beyond the bars, a wide variety of cultural events, and a whole mess of people to talk to.